| 4 Dec ||Chiron Otero ||[http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/18/science/18tier.html "In Bias Test, Shades of Gray"] ||[http://tierneylab.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/11/19/how-do-you-measure-bias/ "How Do You Measure Bias?"] is a follow-up in Tierney's blog explaining more about the debate.

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Also, please take the Race IAT [https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/demo/ here] (and remember your results!) as it will be discussed.

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The two main scientific articles referenced in the NYT piece are [http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=2219763 here] and [http://www.springerlink.com/content/pg12587263076803/ here], but feel free to read them casually as they may be a bit too technical for this discussion.

This page lists weekly meetings of the Seminar in Science Communication. This semester (Fall 2008) we will be reading and discussing science reporting in the New York Times. If you need a permission number, please contact Margaret Rubega.

Meeting time: Thursdays 2 - 3 p.m.

Location: NOTE THAT THE ROOM HAS CHANGED (again, but hopefully for the last time) to TLS 263.

Required Reading:

You should arrive every week having read the preceding Tuesday’s Science Section in the New York Times, and ready to discuss it.
You have several options for access to the NYT: You can use the order form to order a personal subscription OR You can pick up a FREE copy of the paper at selected locations on campus, as long as you arrive before the free copies are all gone OR You can read the paper FREE online.

Expectations for Students

READING: We would like you to read the articles in the Science section critically, assessing the quality of articles from the point of view of:

Accuracy: does the article say things you know or suspect to be wrong?

Evidence: is there sufficient evidence presented for you to believe the conclusions drawn by the reporter?

Balance: does the reporter consider alternative explanations? Are experts from all sides of an issue interviewed and quoted?

Clarity: how hard is it to understand the article? Pretend to be your grandmother while thinking about this one!

Newsworthiness: why did the reporter decide to focus on this story? Why did the editor run it? How likely it that the information presented will change policy/technology/behavior/the world?

PRESENTATIONS: Every student will be expected to present an analysis of a news article to the rest of the group at least once. Students should pick an article, read it, then investigate the background of the story in the primary scientific literature. Read the technical paper that prompted the story, at least. Reconsider all issues listed above; your presentation should address how good a job the reporter did achieving accuracy, balance, and clarity. Your presentation should also address what the scientist did, or could have done, to increase the chances that the reporter would produce an accurate, clear, engaging story.

Given the level of enrollment, and the limited number of weeks for presentation, at least some students will have to present in pairs. Presentation partners should consist of graduate/undergraduate pairs; NO undergrad/undergrad or grad/grad pairs. Talk to Margaret if you would like to present with a partner and you aren't sure how to secure one.

Supplemental reading (for those with the time and the will: the Nature paperthat stimulated the news piece, and a link to another technical article on nitrogen, and LOTS of other supplemental resources from Science.

copy and paste the link below in order to see the scientific paper (Zhong C. and G.J. Leonardelli. 2008. Cold and lonely. Journal of Psychological Science) in which the Times article was written on [www.psychologicalscience.org/journals/ps/19_9_inpress/ZhongRR.pdf]

You should check out the followup comment by Tierny here and a reply by Amory Lovins here.

If you are still interested, you can read this Time article for a perspective that swings in the opposite direction. You can also check out Amory Lovins' (long) 2008 article re-examining nuclear power.

Also, please take the Race IAT here (and remember your results!) as it will be discussed.
The two main scientific articles referenced in the NYT piece are here and here, but feel free to read them casually as they may be a bit too technical for this discussion.

Related Reading

This space is for posting links to readings of interest external to the NYT. Students may consider leading a discussion on materials in the list below; if you wish to use one of these, get approval from Margaret first. Students using pieces not drawn from the list below should be sure to warn the rest of the group well in advance, so everyone has a chance to read the relevant piece in time.